"A sonic rainboom? At a wedding?!" Rainbow Dash bounced on her hooves. "Can you say best wedding ever?!"

Pinkie gasped, flailing her hooves in the air. "Best. Wedding. EVER!"

The pegasus smirked at her friend's antics; Pinkie Pie was just so random sometimes, but that was something that she'd learned to love about the pony. Heck, she'd say that everypony in the cart had their little quirks; Applejack just didn't care about awesomeness as much as she should, Rarity cared a little too much about her looks, Fluttershy needed to learn how to act out... and of course, Twilight went neurotic at the drop of a hat. But in the end, for all their flaws, these ponies just plain rocked. Rainbow Dash couldn't--no, she wouldn't imagine a life without any of them.

"So you all get to help with the big fancy wedding, but I'm the one who gets to host the bachelor party!" boasted the only nonpony in the cart. "I have just one question... What's a bachelor party?"

"PFffffhahaHAHAhahaha!" Rainbow barely managed to keep from falling out of her seat. SPIKE? Running a bachelor party? Oh Celestia that was just priceless! An image of the dragon wearing a mustache and holding auditions for poledancers with an absolutely stoic face passed through her mind, and she burst out in another bout of capricious laughter.

Applejack was the first to notice that Twilight hadn't joined in. She moved over to the unicorn and gave her a gentle smile. "Why tha long face, sugarcube?"

"I'm just thinking about Shining Armor," she replied with a shrug. "Ever since I moved to Ponyville we've been seeing each other less and less. And now that he's starting a new family with this 'Princess Mi Amore Cal-whatshername,' we'll probably never see each other." An aggravated sigh escaped her lips as she stared out the window.

Pinkie Pie curtailed Twilight's grumbling with joyful bouncing. The mares all looked out the window, eager as always to see the capital city. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at the purple bubble that seemed to encapsulate Canterlot; she'd seen it from a distance, of course, but now that it was close, it felt... weird. The train seemed to pass through without any ill effect, though, so she shrugged it off. More than likely it was just a side effect of whatever magic was causing it.

As she trotted out with the other ponies, though, she noticed something a bit more pertinent. "Whoa, what's with all the guards?"

She gave a sidelong glance at Pinkie, who sneezed out confetti as if on cue. Dash nodded in comprehension; Pinkie did have a sense of propriety, but other ponies like her may have been a bit more overeager.

"Yeah," she grumbled, stalking off. "Congratulate. And then give him a piece of my mind."

The other mares watched her break off and head her own way in confusion.

"...Yeesh. What crawled under her tail and died?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity gave the pegasus a pointed look. "There is no need to be so crude, especially in this situation!"

"I'm just calling it like it is!" The pegasus glanced skyward. "Can we just go? That bubble is seriously freaking me out."

"I think it looks kind of cool!" Pinkie commented, bouncing up and down. "Like a big balloon! OOOOO maybe it is a big balloon! But who would put a balloon around Canterlot? Are they trying to make a flying city for the wedding? You can't make a flying city with balloons, believe me I've tried, you need ROCKETS."

The pegasus considered mentioning what had happened when Cadance checked out her practice session, but the unicorn was already under a lot of stress. "Sorry Twi. Been too busy prepping for my sonic rainboom to pay much attention to the bride's bad attitude." Hearing that her sister-in-law to be had mentioned princesses were easily dominated would be, even in Rainbow Dash's world, a bit much.

She privately filed away the image of Shining Armor in tight clothes with a whip, though. Sometimes her imagination rocked.

"The princess is about to get married," Rarity gently reminded her friend. "I'm sure any negative behavior she might be displaying is simply the result of nerves."

Twilight stomped a hoof. "And I'm sure it's the result of being an awful pony who doesn't deserve to even know Shining Armor let alone marry him!"

Applejack reached a gentle hoof out to the heavily breathing unicorn. "Think maybe yer being just a tiny bit possessive of yer brother?" The rest of the table nodded in assent.

"I am not being possessive," Twilight screeched, "and I am not taking it out on Cadance! You're all just too caught up in your wedding planning to notice that maybe there shouldn't even BE A WEDDING!" She slammed the table, making all the dishes jump up a few inches, before spinning around and tromping off. Angry, half formed words poured from her mouth as she rounded the corner.

Applejack sighed, rubbing her forehead. "That filly's getten' all worked up about this. Ah hope she can calm down before she does somethen' she'll regret..."

"Ah! There you girls are!"

The five friends turned to see princess Mi Amore Cadenza trotting up to them with a small entourage of unicorns. Rainbow Dash waved casually, getting up and pulling out a chair for the bride-to-be.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Why Rainbow, I don't think I've ever seen you so courteous in my life!"

"What can I say?" The pegasus gave her a cheesy grin. "I guess weddings bring out the best in me."

"Well, thank you miss Dash." Mi Amore Cadenza nodded to her, sitting in the chair gracefully. "I feel I must.... apologize to you all. I've been horrendously dismissive and harsh to each of you."

"Oh, there's no need to apologize, princess." Fluttershy smiled, putting a reassuring hoof on the alicorn's shoe. "You're about to devote yourself to one person for your entire life. I... I can only imagine how stressful that could be."

"...yes, you're right. That would... Indeed, that is something of an issue." The princess pulled her hoof back, rubbing it nervously. "In fact... well, I seem to have, in a foolish fit of stupidity, fired my previous bridesmaids."

"Well, if we're going to be bridesmaids, I suppose I should start designing some dresses for us." Rarity turned to the princess with a smile. "Do you have any preferences, dear?"

"Well..." She sighed. "I'm sorry, I feel I must retreat to my private quarters. This whole day has been stressful for me, and we still have the rehearsal to do! Miss Dash, would you care to escort me?"

"Huh? Uh..." Rainbow blinked. "Sure, but... why?"

"Well, I feel I have been groundbound for too long and, unfortunately, none of my guards have wings at the moment." The princess gestured at the group of unicorns still standing at attention behind her.

"Yeah, I know what it feels like to be grounded." The pegasus turned to her friends. "You guys don't mind, do you?"

The pegasus rolled her eyes. "Please, don't bring that up." She turned around, saluting the princess as she hovered into the air. "Escort Dash ready to go, your majesty!"

"Very well then." Mi Amore Cadenza turned to the other ponies and granted them a polite smile. "Farewell. I will see you all at the wedding!"

The princess took to the air, as graceful in the winds as she was on the ground. A strange feeling rose up in Rainbow Dash as she followed her, and she shook her head in confusion. Did she have the hots for Cadenza?! That was wrong, the princess was getting married!

After a rather fast moment of self analysis, Dash calmed down. She didn't feel any attraction to the princess, at least, not in her heart. She was just able to appreciate a hot flank, and the pegasus knew better than to act on anything so shallow.

"...the dragon mentioned he was the... New Rainbow Dash?"

The blue pegasus gave an awkward laugh. "Yeah... well, you remember back when Discord was released?"

"Ah, yes. Horrible day for ponies."

"See, my friends and I are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. So Discord sort of... flipped our personalities. Pinkie Pie was angry, Fluttershy was cruel... I bear the element of Loyalty, so...." Rainbow waved a hoof, embarrassed.

"Discord... made you abandon them?"

"Yep. Twilight tried to get Spike to be the new bearer, but it didn't work out. We did beat Discord though," she added quickly. "Took some doing to get us back into our right minds."

The princess nodded. "Yes, I can see that. Bearer of the Element of Loyalty? Quite an accomplishment..."

"Yeah, I guess I am pretty awesome."

For a moment, Mi Amore Cadenza was silent. Then she shot Dash a sly look. "I've been meaning to ask.... what is your rank?"

"My what?"

"Your rank. Your position. What is it?"

The pegasus looked at the princess, nonplussed. Then suddenly it clicked, and she burst out laughing. "Oh man, hahaha! Ha, I'm sorry! You've got the wrong mare."

"I... what?"

"I'm not actually a Wonderbolt." Rainbow Dash smirked. "I mean, I am going to get in one day, don't get me wrong, but right now I'm not part of the team."

I love Chrysalis trying to smooth things over. Really helps with the whole "Twilight's best friends trust the pony they've just met over her" thing. And now she's stuck trying to figure out what is up with this drone. Probably imagining some sort of super-elaborate scheme that she'll overprepare for...

Or not. But I love that kind of thing. In any case, looking forward to more.

2183172There were open doors behind them. She didn't have to hit the wall. Not immediately anyway. Also, just look at them. They stare at our magical pair and nopony else!I mean, it's simply an animation error and all, but it's still funny. There is clearly an intact wall behind those doors, too.

Scootaling and For Mother have changeling Scootaloo, and The Alicorn Delusion has all the princesses as changelings, but I don't know of any where all 3 Cutie Mark Crusaders are changelings, or where Luna is a changeling and Celestia isn't.

Didn't know there was a Celestia Changling.For the CMC there is ScootalingI haven't seen any stories involving changling Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle yet.

A great chapter btw. Likes how Rainbow Dash helped instinctively, a great hint there. And I liked Cadence/Chrysalis' confusion at Rainbow's response to rank. Seems not even the queen is aware what all her subjects have been doing

So completely unserious and unimmersive chapter 1 which by the way ruins any potential mystery and a chapter 2 that's like, 90 percent already been known conversations and actions. Are you going anywhere with this?

Why doesn't someone create a "X is changeling" then divide the stories by folder?In one, RD is. In another, Flutters. Etc. You could have folders even for BG ponies like Applejack!

Hint hint, author.

(There is one group named "X Becomes a Changeling Queen". It doesn't have character folders organized like the one I suggested, and it focuses only on ponies becoming changeling queens and not them just being changelings)

Right off the bat, this reminds me of the story "The Irony of Applejack" (I think that was the name) where AJ was a changeling. It is an amazing story so far, and this seems to be promising. I can't wait to read!

Will Chrysacadence keep throwing out "I know your a changeling" hints that Rainbow will completely miss? Those are funny, although there isn't much room to put them in before things become rather heated and serious.

I don't know if I should scream at you for holding the reveal and everpony's reaction to it back for another chapter, or applaud you for a move that will near-certainly keep us reading long enough to get to that point. Regardless, seeing how all one's friends react after the change is undone is always really intense. I can't wait.

I hope we see 802-Bon again, and that the mention of going rogue was foreshadowing. Or Lyra will be really, really sad.

Actually, the group name is probably misleading. The group name might imply that we focus on Changeling Queens, but really we add any story that shows a princess or one of the mane 6 becoming and/or already existing as a changeling, regardless of their status in the Changeling ranks. For example, this story is already in the group. I will however talk with the admin about creating folders to sort stories by character, because that's definitely a good idea.

After a rather fast moment of self analysis, Dash calmed down. She didn't feel any attraction to the princess, at least, not in her heart. She was just able to appreciate a hot flank, and the pegasus knew better than to act on anything so shallow.

And italics only sparingly, I might add. They can be a crutch when a sentence might otherwise need to be reformatted. It's better if the natural flow of the sentence directs the reader to place the intended emphasis, rather than having to rely on visual cues.

2185505Dude, she's bi. And it's not even the main plot. Seriously, putting a story out just cause a character doesn't swing the way you think she should is kinda biased. I can get that there are dozens of RD IS GAAAAAY stories out there. And that a lot of them are badly written. But I am not making her bi cause she has a rainbow mane, or is tomboyish or anything. Heck, minor spoiler, the only reason she's attracted to Chryssy in any form is cause Chryssy is the Changeling Queen and she's a changeling too.

Maybe it was just the emotional connection they had there for a little while, but I thought the changeling was at least somewhat affected. She wouldn't have (tried) to sing RD out if she was totally cold.

2185676 Ok then. I'm just really goddamn sick of pony lesbianism these days, truth be told. Have you ever had a tonsillectomy? Remember how you got to eat ice cream for every meal? Remember how much you loved it... for the first day, and then you started to hate it? Same deal. Hatred born from overexposure.

I'm still on board with the story, though. Good to know that I won't have to grind through too much homophilia.

2186196 I'd rather die knowing that I didn't just let an emotional cripple make a perfect copy of me, there and ready to be exploited in the worst ways. And I'd rather die knowing that I'm cared about, but judging by how many people RD wanted to avoid hurting with her death, I guess that wasnt much of a problem for her.